Hundreds of Haitians detained in Dom Rep, false documents seized

SANTO DOMINIGO, Dominican Republic (CMC):Dominican Republic authorities say they have detained more than 250 Haitian nationals and seized a number of illegal documents during raids in several areas including the city.

They said the raids during the week netted the illegal Haitians as well as dozens of fake cards of the National Plan for the Regularization of Foreigners (PNRE), false visas and Dominican identity cards (cédulas).

Immigration and military officials said that most of those detained would be repatriated to Haiti and that the raids formed part of the clampdown by authorities in the two countries to prevent the sale of illegal products at traffic lights, avenues and public places.

They note that in recent months, several thousands of falsified PNRE cards and hundreds of fake Haitian passports have been seized by the Dominican authorities.

But the authorities warn that Haitians, who risk expulsion are easy prey for networks of counterfeiters of Dominican and Haitian thugs, who sell the PNRE cards at high prices. They said the cards are immediately discovered during a biometric check.

“Remember that these falsified cards that usually usurp the identity of a Haitian regularly registered with the PNRE, lead to the expulsion of the holder but also to the exclusion of the PNRE and the expulsion of the real owner if the latter does not prove that he has filed a prior complaint for the theft of his card,” they said in a statement.